Ever feel as though you work too hard? Ever dream of living a life of indulgence and pleasure with the ones you love, doing only the things that give you pure satisfaction? With the toughest decision of the day being what your next meal will be?
Lunch with a view. Budva, Montenegro.
Sometimes, as I ponder over tough decisions, I wish I could look into the future. I wish that I could possess a crystal ball and have some sort of confirmation as to knowing I’m making the right decisions. That I’m on the right path. That I’m simply doing what I am ‘supposed’ to be doing. But then again I think that this is the exciting part of life. The pure unknown. The surprises, the twists, the turns, the positive and the negative. Paving your own way, building your own unique fairy tale, or as close to it as can be; your life. Of course we are all guilty of making mistakes along the way, but it is in these experiences that we learn, we build confidence and we develop our own unique personalities. We learn from past decisions, reflect and move on to make more insightful decisions for the future.
I’m sure I am one of the most indecisive people on this planet. Things such as what to cook for dinner, if I should buy pretty new black or red shoes or what to wear to work each day prove to be arduous nail-biting tasks. That’s just me. I’m the same when it comes to seeing the end of something. I’m a last-minute finisher. Since being honest with myself about being a natural procrastinator, I have learnt to use this skill efficiently. And I believe it doesn’t necessarily have to be a bad trait. I now know how to ‘plan’ successfully to do things at the last minute. It’s just how I am.
At the moment in my life I find myself struggling with the concept of the ‘happiness’. Not to be overlooked as a simple concept mind you. Rather, I aim to seek happiness in my life each and everyday. This in itself, surprisingly enough, can be quite difficult in our materialistic and economic driven society. I find myself struggling with the concepts of wanting to do what I like each and everyday yet feeling the pressure from society to conform to a ‘structured’, ‘regimented’ and ‘routine’ based lifestyle. Remember I said I’m a last minute, indecisive procrastinator? Structured, regimented and routine are not qualities in which I strongly associate with, without much practise.
After travelling, it has become clear to me that we Australians and Americans work too hard. We don’t have a siesta in the middle of the day, close our stores to go surfing and replace the trading hours sign with the likes of ‘be back soon’ or shut up shop every Sunday as if it were a public holiday. Since travelling to all these different countries, experiencing all these different cultures and ways of life, I am now reflecting on my own. No longer does the full time 5 days a week grind appeal to me. Nor does the concept of living in one place. Some may call this lazy or selfish but I like to rather think of it as a sense of enlightenment; having the courage to live in a way that seeks to bring happiness each and everyday.
A Croatian sign reading something to the likes of: ‘Summer Work Hours. Hours At A time’.
I’m pledging to you to reflect on your own life. Are you truly happy in your own lifestyle? Do you spend enough time with your kids? Or are you simply a contributor to a society in which we simply work the best years of our lives away? I have promised myself since travelling I am no longer going to conform into the trap of materialism. Working hard everyday just to pay bills to have nice things, yet lead an uneventful life filled with days being wished away. Don’t get me wrong I love my career, I love my job, I am more than thankful for my university degree. I know that we could all dream about winning the lottery and not having to work another day in our lives. But that’s reality; we all have to work. But does reality have to be an extensive chore? For most people, that chore lasts for at least eight hours a day, for five days a week. Did you know that amounts to around 2000 hours spent on your working lifestyle, out of the 8760 hours in a year? Don’t forget if you get an average of 8 hours sleep a night, that accounts for another 2000 hours per year. This means you have just over 4500 hours a year to spend on leisure, cooking, eating, exercising, socialising, attending appointments, holidays and other activities.
I simply think that society has pressured us to take on more and more each day, until we have become so overwhelmed to the point that we feel ‘there’s simply not enough hours in a day.’ The quick fix answer to this is being ‘time-wise’. Surely we can’t continue like this forever. Surely we need a change. We need to change.
People need to accept that there is no magical age number that we need to aspire to, to achieved our goals by. It doesn’t matter if you don’t own a house by the time you are 25, not married to the man of your dreams by the time you are 27 or have kids by the magical age of 30. Each to their own. The trouble with the society in which we live is that we are pressured to ‘know what we want to be’ upon finishing school. Then we attend university straight away, study for a number of years then attempt to get the best job possible by our early 20’s. Thirty years later you wake up with a job you loath, kids, which lets face it, life is all about them now and a mortgage. You feel depressed, wonder who you are and realise that there are many things in life that you wish you did when you were younger or that you simply had more time and energy to do now. You should be enjoying your life. Not tolerating stressful relationships, not tolerating unrealistic work loads, not tolerating unhappiness. You should be excited to be alive today and each and everyday.
This is why I am cutting back on my own personal workload, I’m finding time for things that inspire me and am increasing my time on things that make me happy. It may mean that yes you have to take a pay cut, but it may mean that now you have time to make money from things you once considered as hobbies. But you have more time to do the things you love or spend more time with your loved ones. That’s got to be a priority. I went on a five month trip this year with my partner and loved spending almost half a year together, travelling the world.
My partner and I after hiking to the top of a fortress in Omis, Croatia.
Life truly is too short. We are only here for a very short time and in the end; we do really just regret the things we didn’t do or the experiences we didn’t have. Regrets scare me more than the concept of failing. That’s why I’m seeking to make the most of each opportunity, do ALL of the things that I hope to in my lifetime, live in different places and live a life of no regrets. I hope to live a life of happiness, the best way that I can.
So true! Good read. Reminds me of this article I read called “The Curse of a Good Job” http://chrisguillebeau.com/the-good-job/
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Just had a read. Similar thoughts to mine ;) thanks for sharing the link.
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Hey girl, this was such an inspiring read! And thank you for commenting on my blog! Since I just started it I was surprised to see anyone- let alone someone with a following see it. Now I’m happy to have found yours! Can’t wait to see whats in store for your future. Thanks again :)
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Thanks for your lovely words and for stopping by my blog to have a look :) Good luck with the rest of your studies and I’m sure travel is just around the corner for you :)
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I 100% agree with you. Have you seen these? http://youtu.be/KSyHWMdH9gk
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Another great clip. Thanks so much for sharing. I’m also going to pass them on with friends. Thank very much :)
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you are very welcome :D
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Wow such a powerful video. Thank you so much for taking the time to share that with me. It all makes sense!! Exactly how I am feeling. Can’t thank you enough for sharing it :) Some good karma will be on it’s way to you I’m sure!
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I felt the same way after viewing them, totally wanted to change my life & I did
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Also I gotta thank you for your sweet words & good karma wishes :D Thanx a lot! You made my morning brighter :) X
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You made my day too re-bloging my article :) xo
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yay :D
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Reblogged this on 100 Days of Sunshine.
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This was a great read, it touched me a lot, about a year ago, I stumbled into a post about why you should create your own bucket list, and sitting at my desk at work while listing everything I want to do before I die. I realized If I don’t start crossing off the things immediately, I probably never will. so a few months later, I quit that job and went for an 8 month trip around Asia and let me tell you, my life path changed drastically lot was crossed off.
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That is so great. I love hearing stories like yours!! Good on you for making such a positive change. Bet you have never looked back. And thank you for your kind words too. Hopefully you have some more exciting adventures to come in the future! :)
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This is beautiful Kristie!! I can’t wait to travel one day. The past 6 months of job searching after graduating I worried far too much. If I could have known that I would have a job to start in 2015 I feel I would have made much better use of the time and did more for my own leisure. I did a lot of independent learning to gain skills and increase employability (which I don’t regret coz I got the job) but I could have fit more into my days and job searched a lot less. I am excited for the new year, to begin my career and save the money I need to see the world :) First stop Thailand xo
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Thank you Loren and thanks so much for taking the time to look at my blog :) Job hunting can be very time consuming that’s for sure. Congrats on getting a position for next year. All your hard work has paid off. Well done!! And yes you will be on your way for saving to see the amazing world in which we live. Thailand is also on my list too! Heard its an amazing and beautiful country :) xox
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